Archive for October, 2013

While Royal Tenenbaums and Rushmore are two favorites of mine, Anderson’s films since (yes, including Fantastic Mr. Fox and especially The Life Aquatic) have fallen very flat for me. Moonrise Kingdom was a step back in the right direction, but still lacked any of the emotion from Royal Tenenbaums and Rushmore.

So while this first (international) trailer for The Grand Budapest Hotel looks entertaining enough, I’m a bit wary. The film hits US theaters on March 7, though; I think I’ll need to check out some reviews before I’m on board, but I know some of you will be super excited.

You seem to get an awful lot of the story in the trailer, so I think I can skip the plot description this time…

I just posted a trailer for a flick with Tom Felton, so I guess it’s only fitting to post one with Daniel Radcliffe now. The erstwhile Harry Potter stars as Allen Ginsberg in a “based on a true story” tale of David Kammerer’s murder by Lucien Carr (in 1944). Rounding out the cast are Dane DeHaan (Chronicle, Amazing Spider-Man 2) as Lucien Carr, Michael C. Hall (Dexter, Six Feet Under) as David Kammerer, Jack Huston (Richard Harrow on Boardwalk Empire) as Jack Kerouac, and Ben Foster as William S. Burroughs.

Director John Krokidas directs from a script he co-wrote with Austin Bunn. The film opens on October 16th in New York and LA; it’ll expand from there… although how much depends on how well it does, of course.

This trailer for Amma Asante’s Belle looks really good, for those (like me) who enjoy historical period dramas. Gugu Mbatha-Raw stars as Dido Belle, the illegitimate mixed-race daughter of a Navy Admiral raised by her great uncle (Tom Wilkinson) and his wife (Emily Watson). How “based on a true story” the film is, I don’t really know, but Wilkinson’s William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, made slavery unlawful in England (though it was not completely abolished until 1834), so there’s a pretty interesting narrative arc for the film right there.

The film opens on May 2, 2014, which is a shame, only because it looks perfect for Oscarbait season.

Longtime readers know how loathe I am to miss an update, particularly because of anything so silly as being sick, but I’ve been largely bedridden since Friday night — feverish, intermittently nauseous, and sundry other funtimes. (Thank God for my iPad, or I would have had to live without the Internet.)

I’m on the mend, but not yet 100%. Or even 75%, for that matter.

Anyway, so Monday’s strip will be posted late Monday night, most likely, if not Tuesday. Sorry!